Concerned about turnout amid its shaping of Parliamentary elections, Iran’s regime has cracked down on journalists and activists ahead of the February 21 vote.

Sources inside the country told the Center for Human Rights in Iran that the intelligence branch of the Revolutionary Guards is summoning journalists, raiding their homes, and confiscating their electronic devices.

Those targeted include human rights activist and former political prisoner Bahareh Hedayat (pictured), seized on February 10 after appearing at Tehran University’s security office” in response to a summons.

Hedayat was first arrested on July 9, 2007, re-arrested and released in 2008, and then sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison for her part in mass protests over the disputed 2009 Presidential election and for human rights and reforms. She was freed in September 2016.

At least 10 journalists have been targeted by the Guards’ intelligence branch in the past two weeks. They include:

*Yasaman Khaleghian, a freelance social affairs reporter
*Maziar Khosravi, a former political reporter and editor at the reformist Shargh newspaper
*Moloud Hajizadeh, a women’s affairs reporter at Taadol newspaper
*Yaghma Fashkhami, a former reporter at the Didban Iran news website
*Ehsan Bodaghi, a parliamentary reporter for the state-funded Iran newspaper and his journalist wife Shabnam Nezami
*Mona Mafi

Other journalists punished in recent weeks include freelance labor affairs reporter Khosrow Sadeghi Boroujeni, sentenced to eight years in prison, and Shargh reporter Marzieh Amiri condemned to five years.

A reporter in Tehran summarized:

[The Guards] come and confiscate things like computers, phones, books, writings, and press ID cards belonging to journalists and their relatives. They don’t return them until they appear for questioning to explain [their posts on social media].

This stops the journalists from carrying out their work and allows agents to find material to press charges against them….

They want us to stop writing and criticizing anything on social media, especially Twitter—anything that contradicts the official narrative. We can write about these things in the newspaper but only within a heavily censored framework. But now the latest pressure from the security establishment is extending censorship to our posts on social media.

Another journalist, summoned last week by authorities, said, “They told us that during this election period any activity on social media that opposes the Supreme Leader’s views would be considered playing games in the enemy’s court against the country’s national security.”
Voter turnout on February 21 is expected to be impacted by calls to boycott the elections by activists and other members of civil society in the wake of deadly state crackdowns on recent widespread protests in the country.

Betraying Concern

The Guardian Council, the 12-member body deciding who can stand in Parliamentary and Presidential elections, has shut out most reformists as it has disqualified more than half of the 16,000 applicants. Among those disqualified are 92 of Iran’s 290 MPs.

After criticism from President Hassan Rouhani, the Council took a small step back, reinstating 2,000 candidates for a total of more than 7,600. However, the bar on reformists — who, along with centrists, took the largest share of seats in the 2016 elections — remains.

See also Iran Daily, Feb 9: MP — Corruption in Guardian Council’s Vetting of Election Candidates

Iran Daily, Feb 3: Guardian Council Steps Back After Rouhani’s Criticism Over Ban on Candidates

The Supreme Leader has appealed for a high turnout as a display for Iran’s “enemies”. Rouhani, while chiding the Council for restricting choice and risking the legitimacy of the process, has also made the call.

But activists and civil society groups are calling for boycotts, not only over the restrictions on reformists but also deadly suppression of mass protests.

In November, amid nationwide demonstrations over economic conditions and the Government’s sharp escalation of petrol prices, security forces killed at least 304 protesters, according to Amnesty International.

Activists say the total is far higher. Iranian officials have acknowledged 1,500 fatalities among demonstrators, security personnel, and bystanders.